Top Business Women Grants, Funding Programs, and Loan Options

Funding and raising capital has always been a huge challenge for women-owned businesses. Because of gender discrimination, unfair business practices, and other factors, many women around the world struggle to raise much-needed capital, to start a new business, and/or to keep the business they have afloat.Here are some of the top programs that help fund women-owned enterprises:

* Eileen Fisher Women-Owned Business Grant: This program supports innovative, women-owned companies that are beyond the start-up phase and ready to expand their business and their potential for positive social and environmental impact. Annually, they award $100,000 in grants for up to 10 grant recipients (minimum grant $10,000). In addition, grant recipients are invited to New York City in the spring following their award for two days of learning and celebration.

* Zions Bank Business Grants For Women: This program helps bolster the efforts of entrepreneurs who strengthen communities through their diverse talents and endeavors. Grants are open to anyone whose proposal promotes the empowerment of women or directly benefits women or low-income or underserved populations in Utah and Idaho.

* Kabbage Business Loans For Women: Platform that offers women entrepreneurs access to the working capital they need to sustain and grow their businesses. Applicants can apply online or through our mobile app by connecting information generated through accounting data, online sales, shipping and dozens of other sources. An automated decision is provided right away, and give qualified women can get access to lines of credit of up to $150,000.

* Female Founders Fund: This program invests in areas where women-led startups have incredible impact: e-commerce, web-enabled products and services, marketplaces, and platforms. Their goal is to help generation of talented women to build businesses and raise capital to bring their ideas to life.

* Lift Fund: This non-profit organization provides small business loans and minority business loans for women, startups, and entrepreneurs. They partner with SBA lenders and other lending institutions to provide small business loans, SBA 504 Loans, and microloans in Texas and throughout the South Eastern USA.

* Amber Grants For Women: These grants, funded through the Amber Foundation, help women start businesses and helps existing ones grow. The funding grants are small, but very helpful in getting you started. There is no requirement or expectation to repay the funds.

* Kiva Small Business Loans: This international nonprofit, is based in San Francisco, but their mission is to connect people through lending to help poor entrepreneurs finance their business ideas. Because they believe in character over credit and the power of community-based lending, they provide funding opportunities for entrepreneurs where conventional lenders won’t.